New Blog Style

I have made some upgrades and changes to my BLOG. As you can see, it is a negative zone incarnation of my last blog with some very nice style changes. I have gotten things a bit more orderly than they have been in the past. I hope also to be ale to insert a background picture soon!! We shall see.

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Body modification Part III....

Well Folks, IT is that time of year again for me to do another series of Body Mod Pics.

Please let me tell you how FREAKING STUPID I THINK THEY ARE!!! RALMFAO!!! He looks like he needs to be in a S&M bar somewhere tied up and being whipped!

Here we go: Facial Corsets...WTF? What are they used for?? He looks like Pinhead got a hold of him and he belongs in a Hellraiser film!! The really sad things is that this equipment might have come from the medicial industry and been perverted in the process.

Remember the Ministry Song "Halloween" That song is about him, Corset Face.

"well any time,Any place, anywhere that I go all thePeople seem to stop and stare they say'why are you dressed like it's halloween? You look so absurd, you look so obscene"

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Sleep during the day...

Well, folks, I am once again on the old night shift! I have heard that when you sleep during the day, like taking a nap, it is like getting more sleep than if you slept during the night. For every 15 minuets of sleep during the day, it equals 1 hour of sleep at night.

Since I am on nights again. I try to go to sleep around 9.30am and get up around 3.45-4.00pm. SO on average with the few phone calls during the day, I usually get about 6.5 hours of sleep.

I have noticed that during the day, I dream a tremendous amount more than I do at night. I can remember my dreams and I am also aware that I am dreaming more times than not. That is called Lucid Dreaming.

I will be doing a series of BLOG entries about this as I find more information about it.
Here is some information, it is not what I am truly looking for, but it is a start!


Sleep
Shift workers, on average, get less sleep during the week (6 hours and 30 minutes) compared to regular day workers (6 hours and 54 minutes). (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

68% of shift workers report sleep problems, compared to 56% of regular day shift workers. (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

53% of shift workers do not keep a regular sleep schedule, compared to 26% of those who work regular day hours. (National Sleep Foundation 1999 Sleep in America Poll)

Societal pressures to work more and at odd hours-evenings, weekends, the night shift, round-the-clock-have reduced Americans sleep time over the past century by about 20%. ("The Promise of Sleep" by William Dement and Christopher Vaughan, 1999)

45% of adults agree that they will sleep less in order to accomplish more. Shift workers (56%) are more likely to agree they will sleep less in order to get more work done compared to regular day workers (44%). (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

One-half of the American work force (51%) reports that sleepiness on- the-job interferes with the amount of work they get done. (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

Television and the Internet are prime contributors to Americans not getting enough sleep, causing 43% of adults to stay up later than they should. (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

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Comic Book Stores...

Let em preface this by saying, I know, Comics at 35???

I went into a store several day ago with my friend Mark. He was told "DO No Bend The Pages." IT was called Richomndcomicx. They seamed to have a very good selection and they were close to our homes. I saw several titles that i wanted to purchase, just did not have the money at that time.

I went back today to look at a few titles and get what i saw the last time. I was in there for a few minuets and the owner came over and told me not to read the books!! I said that i was not reading the books and just looking at stuff that i have not kept up on over the years and that i was going to purchase a few in a moment. I stormed out of the store!!

I was SOOOO PISSED that we went back in to the store and told him that i would NEVER come back to his crappy store and that i would find a new one to use.

How can you not look at a book to see if you want to buy it? That is like going to the Library and being told you cant read the books in the building!!

What a grouchy OLD FART!!!

Here is a list of other stores in the Richmond Metroplex:

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Some music I am listening to...

~Turn off the light, take a deep breath, and relax, relax~

I am sure that many of you remember the "Band" called Enigma. Well, his name is Michael Cretu and he is from Bucharest, which is the Capital of Romania, Europe. HE broke into the scene around 1990 with his first album with big success!! It was called MCMXC a.D.

Many people got really burned out on this music and tracks. It is my opinion that you should check the music out again as it is now over 17 years old. It might sound dated, but it was and still is very well recorded and produced.

The massive hit from that album was called "Sadness" clocking in at over 12 minuets with 3 parts to it. I remember that track when i was in college. I purchased it at Record Rack in Houston Texas on one of my many trips there.

The musical style was mystical at that time with a new age feel to it. This album has always been one of my favorites. IT was along the same time that Peter Gabriel scored Passion - The Last Temptation Of Christ. Up until that time, there was a very big underground scene of that style of music by the likes of Eno, Fripp, Mike Oldfield, and Vangellis and Jean Michel Jarre, just to name a few. None of those artist had any big commercial success statewide at least. Enigma broke that genera of music to the popular masses and it was a very large hit in The States followed by Mea Culpa, another big radio/club success.

He also produced a band called Sandra. She had a few club hits in the mid-late 1980s. I remember them going to clubs when i was 16 years old! The eventually got married. Her music was very thickly layered using old Fairlight and Roland analogue synthesizers with sultry vocals and great beats. She even, later, gave vocals for the Enigma projects.

All in all, i think that Micheal Cretu/Enigma have remained a constant force in the music industry. His music might be the same on all the albums, but it is very masterfully crafted with rick textures and incredible lush soundscapes. His music takes you on a journey instead of the same ole crap that most bands do, with 3-4 good tracks and the rest as filler. All the music might not be to your taste, but it had a fluid motion and a natural progression with a common element through out his music. you can listen to his stuff and say, that is Enigma, not some other artist.

He also helped open this style of music to other artist that spawned several offshoots. One being Trance, Progressive Trance and several others. I think that we all owe him a big hand for doing what he did in the music industry and for what he still does.

Just my 2 or 3 cents worth...

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For all The Dems out there...

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Interesting Map View

I found this map the other night while I was online. It is of the US interstate system built by Eisenhower during the late 1950-60s time frame. IT is a block diagram, but very neat. I thought that some of you might like to see it...




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This weekend...

IT has been cold all weekend. My wife, daughter, and i went to the movies last night. We saw A Night At The Museum. IT was very funny!! After the movie, i went to a friends house and we watched fights on HBO (Sugar Shane Mosley) and played Poker! I kicked every one's but and won the most money(chips no cash) We decided to get a bike ride up today and went to Powhite Park. WE rode over 4.5 miles and had a good time. I also went and looked at new bikes yesterday and i am going to decide between a Rockhopper and a Gary Fisher.


I am leaning more to the Gary Fisher as it is a meaner style kind of like in Attack mode. The links are for the bikes that i looked at yesterday.

We are supposed to get snow this week, but i will believe it when i see it. The weather people have said that before. Here is the link to this weeks forcast.

Well, that is all for now...

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New Vista Versions and Stuff...

A friend sent this link to me... LOL it is So Funny for you techie people out there.

Windows Vista to Ship in 33 Different Versions
By Russell Skingsley


Redmond, WA - Microsoft announced today that its new operating system Vista will ship in 33 editions to enable consumers to get exactly which version they need. Barry Goffe, a director of Microsoft's Windows client unit announced this innovative move from Microsoft earlier today.

"We're trying to make sure we have the right set of offerings for different customers," said Goffe. The impressive list of Vista Editions follows:

Vista Professional Edition
Vista Semi-Professional Edition
Vista Slightly Professional Edition
Vista Complete Amateur Edition
Vista Server Edition
Vista Server Premium Edition
Vista Server Not Bad But Not As Good As Premium Edition
Vista Server My Other Edition Is Premium Edition Edition
Vista 5 User License Edition
Vista Site License Edition
Vista Country License Edition
Vista Planetary License Edition
Vista Galaxy License Edition
Vista Universe License Edition
Vista Universe License Without Windows Media Player Edition*
Vista Home Edition
Vista Home Premium Edition
Vista Home Premium Edition With Some Server Features
Vista Home I Can't Believe It's Not Server Edition
Vista Away From Home But Have My Laptop With Me Edition
Vista Gamers Edition
Vista Mostly Play Games but Also Like to Surf the Net Edition
Vista Boot Straight Into World of Warcraft and Never Be Seen Again Edition
Vista Just Read Email And Clean Up Viruses Edition
Vista Downloaded Via Bittorrent Just Wait For The Subpoena Edition
Vista Erases Your iPod Edition (with Free Creative Player Voucher Included)
Vista Beginners Edition
Vista Intermediate Edition
Vista Advanced Edition
Vista Write My Own Drivers Edition
Vista One Finger On The Reset Button Edition
Vista Uninstall And Reinstall XP Edition
Vista ME Just Joking! Practical Jokers Edition

*Only Available In Europe

"There should be something there for everyone," said Goffe. When asked when the editions would be shipping, Goffe replied, "I can't really say, we haven't finished coding any of this yet."






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This weekend...

Well, it is still cold here and I will not be going to Culpeper Va. The GC got the scheduling messed up and we are not needed there for another 3-4 weeks!!! On a different note, i just got my new set of tires put on my Tacoma. We had to special order them as the size is very strange. IT is 265/65/17. That size is not normally in stock. i will let everyone know what i think of them. I bought Goodyear Wrangler tires. Give em a few days and let me ride on them for a bit...
L8ters.



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The Deep Freez...

WE have been in the 30s for the last 2 weeks! It is only going to get colder next week. We are supposed to have a big winter storm by Tuesday. I am also going to work this weekend in Cullpepper Va for Sun Control Systems. I might take my camera and snap some pics of the outside of the building as it is very neat. Well i gotta go as i am very tired and got several more days to work this week.

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A Voter Poll...

Look down on the right side of my blog and you will see a Poll. Please take time to do it as it is short.

Thankx,
The Management


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Our Morning Drive back East...

Here are a few sunrise pics that I took while we were driving threw Louisiana...
IT was a long 20 hour drive that was 1270 miles one-way. We made it fine as we left Texas at 3.30am and made it home in Virginia at 11.00pm

We had Sirius radio in our rental car(mini-van) and we listened to 1st wave(22) on the Sirius unit. It was great; not having to find a station every 100 miles. They played all 1980s bands and I did not hear on repeat song!! We all are very tired, but glad that we made the trip.

In my opinion, a death in a close family can bring out the best and worst in people. I just wish that when a death occurs, that the main focus would be on the families that are hurting and not a material possessions. That the focus would be to help and heal instead of being a vulture to pick over the remains. I have seen this happen many times in my 35+ years of living...

God Bless and Good Night.





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I am back...

It has been a very tireing trip to texas this week. We just got home from a 20 hour drive from Texas to here. I will have some pics and soem other stuff to post this week. Until then,
L8terz...

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In Memoriam...

I will be out of pocket so they say due to a death in my fmaily. My grandmother has passed away this evening in Texas and we have to go there...



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Nothing

I have been trying to think about some topic to post about. I am drawing a blank on this subject today; I guess that I am tired and have lots to do on my days off. I need to get my car inspected!  That is my number 1 priority for Thursday. IT has been really quiet since the weekend and the DC trip.  I really enjoyed that and i hope to get a few night shots of downtown Richmond soon to post as well. If I find something that pricks my interest, I will make a post...

--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++

Updates to the website

I have made some changes to our Pic page on our website. I also posted a link to the pic page on my BLOG also. SO, go and look...



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Washington D.C. at night

Looking down Pennsylvania Ave toward The Capital.


This is the Washington Monument at night.

WE took a quick trip to DC last night and i got some sweet pics using out Sony Cybershot 5.1mp with a 12x optical zoom on night mode with no flash. Some turned out very nice and a few sucked, but this was really the first time for em to use the night mode like that.

Here is a Pic of the Lincoln Memorial.



Dc is about 120 miles from our house and there was a Anti-War Protest going on! The police were out in FULL FORCE!! I have never see so many cops congregated in one place at one time. Wow!! Here a few pics from last night. We had a really good time walking around to the different monuments. The temp was cool, but not freezing! and there was still snow on the ground in some paces. The reflecting pool was drained as was the pools around the WW2 memorial. as always, the Korean War Memorial was breath taking, the realism and detail on the hulking statues are amazing and in my opinion, on of the very best War Memorials in DC.



This is a pic looking back at The White House and The Washington Monument from the Jefferson Memorial across the Potomac River. The White House is just to the left of the Monument.


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Moutain Biking Part 2...

As I stated on a previous post, we went biking at a park called Powhite Park. Our friend brought a GPS and mapped the trails. here is the pic of that superimposed over a Googel Earth photo. Very cool!! Part of the photo has not been updated, but I hope that they will update it soon.

Here it is!!!



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Off time...

Well, this weekend is some much needed downtime. I slept in until 11:15 this morning and got out of bed. I am listening to some good "psytrance" from a band called Symphonix. This music would have sounded good at a club in Beaumont Texas called "The Palladium" They had a killer soundsystem with a very awesome light show!!



It is very cold here today and it is not going to get out of the 30s. But tomorrow it will be like 50, BIG temperature change tomorrow. but then back cold by next week.
Thankx to www.NBC12.com for the weather forecast. Their site is very good if you want to know about our local news.

You know when you need to get tires, but you don't have the time? For one thing, my tires for my Toyota Tacoma are a very strange size: P256/65R17 and most places do not carry that size on hand.


Well, We ordered tires online from Wal*Mart and i am still waiting for them. IT is the 26th of January and my sticker goes out on February 1. I hope that the tires come in soon so i can get them and then get my car inspected. I have over 44,000 miles on my old set. I think that i have gotten the good out of them!

Well, more later. i think that i will post about and make a few pics of my different types of house plants that i have.

L8ters...

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